Portimonense president Rodiney Sampaio wants to play hardball over Shoya Nakajima.
He didn’t start it very well, last week saying the player’s transfer to the Midlands was 80% on the way there, but since then he’s been trying to change that perception.
Sampaio has now said, in quotes picked up by Record, that the 20% gap hasn’t yet been closed, and there’s been no advance at all over the past week.
The Portuguese club are trying to push the estimated price up from €20m to something closer to the player’s €40m release clause.
Supposed further interest from the Premier League helps that.
In October, it was reported in Portugal that Leicester were preparing a €20m offer for the player.
At the beginning of November, Southampton sent a scout to a Portimonense match and we suggested Nakajima could be the target, which then ended up elsewhere as a statement of fact, with the Saints linked since.
